Rants, Tips, and Junk for Building Design Technology

Windows Registry Hack and Model Checker Configurator

THIS POST INVOLVES MANUALLY EDITING YOUR REGISTRY AND IF YOU BREAK IT YOU BOUGHT IT. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.

Seriously, if editing the Windows Registry is not your cup of tea, then feel free to skip. I know I said “hack” in the title, but it’s not really a hack. It’s more like a manual tweak.

But “hack” sounds cooler.

I have the privilege of working on the development team for the BIM Interoperability Tools and I love working on software that thousands of users integrated into their workflows. Out of the suite, the Model Checker Configurator is probably my favorite because I get to do some fun “under the hood” things in my Revit models, and can treat the Revit model like a database. Because I am a giant nerd.

What I didn’t like is having to open the Configurator to open my XML checkset file. Who needs all the clicking?! Since it’s an XML file we didn’t want to just take over that file format and claim it for the Configurator in Windows. But I did find a workaround middle ground that I like.

This is where the registry “hacking” comes in.

Add Configurate to XML Right Click Menu

I went into my Windows Registry and made some tweaks that adds “Configurate” to the right-click context menu in any XML file. Obviously, some XML files are not for the Configurator, but for those I just don’t use that option. But for the Model Checker XML checksets, I have a direct access to open that file up in the Configurator.

It’s a pretty easy add, but will depend on what version of the BIM Tools you installed. My examples show it assuming you have 2019 installed, but you can change 2019 to whatever year you have.

Some Background on How the BIM Tools Now Install

Up to the latest major release of the original BIM Interoperability Tools for Revit suite, each tool was installed separately. Now you get them all at once, so you don’t need to install the Configurator separately. It just comes in the box.

Another thing to note is that because you can access the Configurator from the BIM Interoperability Tools ribbon in Revit, and because it is a Windows application and not really a Revit add-in, the Configurator actually gets installed as many times as you have the BIM Tools, so you might have it installed four times. Not an issue, just something to note that you might find the EXE file multiple times. Be sure you point to one you have installed. And be sure you update your registry when you remove the one you are pointing to.

OK, but About That Hack

Right, so it’s pretty straightforward.

Open the Registry (I use good old REGEDIT)

Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xmlfile\shell\

Add a new Key and name it “Configurate” (or whatever you want the right-click menu item to say)

In that Key, add another new key and name it “command” – this name has to match

In command, edit the “Default” item to“C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\BIT\2019\Model Checker\RMCConfigurator.exe” “%1”
Note that I am pointing to the 2019 installed Configurator. If you don’t have that, or if you installed to a different location, point to a RMCConfigurator.exe that you have.
The %1 is essential, and the quotes are essential as well.

When you are done, it should look something like this:

Then try out right-clicking on an XML and you should now have the option to directly open it up with the Configurator. Yay, saving clicks!

Can You Make This Any Easier for Me?

Yeah, OK. If you trust me (insert evil laugh here) I have exported and zipped up the REG for what you see above. If you aren’t being blocked from potentially malicious files (again, evil laugh) you can grab a copy right here and see if it works for you.

ONE MORE TIME: YOU ARE USING THIS FILE AND DIRECTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IN HOW THIS WILL IMPACT YOUR PC.

But it’s pretty easy to remove. Just delete the Configurate key from your registry and you should be back to normal.